Smart Thermostat App
by wfcadmin wfcadmin

4 Reasons to Own a Smart Programmable Thermostat

1. Remote Accessibility

Most homeowners only have 1 thermostat in their home, meaning there is only one place to control and access the temperature throughout their house. Smart thermostats fix this problem by allowing users to access their thermostat from any device capable of connecting to WIFI. Whether you prefer to use your phone, laptop, tablet or Amazon Alexa – there is a solution for you. There are many examples of people who benefit from this technology, but remote access is an especially wonderful tool for people who have a tough time getting around their homes. Once the thermostat is synced up to your preferred technology,  you can easily access the thermostat controls from anywhere with WIFI. Technology isn’t always about making the lazy people, lazier! It is fair to say, once you own a smart thermostat you’ll never go back.

2. Temperature Control

There are many reasons for investing in a smart thermostat, but this is really what drives most people to upgrading their home thermostat. Remote temperature control not only offers improved comfort, but it also saves you on your monthly utility bill. There are likely hours that go by everyday where your house sits vacant. For many homeowners, they leave their heat and air running during these times, wasting energy and increasing their utility costs. A programmable thermostat allows you to setup a schedule for your thermostat – 7 days a week. You can control the times your HVAC unit kicks on and off, and set different temperatures for your home throughout the day. While you are at work, keep your home in the high 70s and when 5:30 hits and you are pulling into your driveway, have your A/C kick on so you can enjoy a comfortable home.

3. Reliable Diagnostics

Have you ever found yourself wanting to check the health of your HVAC system but unsure of where to start? We’ve all probably changed out the filters in our home HVAC system, but for many of us that’s where our knowledge ends. Smart thermostats now offer real-time diagnostics capable of monitoring the health of your entire HVAC system. Many of the new innovative thermostats even notify your HVAC company when there is an issue. This is a pretty nifty feature when you think about it and can help catch issues with your HVAC system sooner rather than later, potentially saving you money and improving the longevity of your system.

4. Multi-Functional

Nowadays, thermostats are used for more than just controlling the temperature of your home or office. As with any industry, HVAC manufacturers are constantly looking for new ways to innovate their products and make them more appealing, user-friendly and functional for their users. Steve’s Heating’s featured thermostat is the Trane ComfortLink II XL1050. This piece of technology is a smart and programmable thermostat that packs a bunch of extra features beyond controlling the temperature of your home. Who knew HVAC products could be so cool! Companies like Trane understand thermostats aren’t the most beautiful wall decoration so some of their latest products utilize a new slick look that can be customized to better fit the appearance of your home. If a customizable appearance isn’t enough, you can turn your thermostat into a digital picture frame and even check the weather!

Are you interested in learning more about programmable thermostats? Give us a call and we’d be happy to answer any of your questions!

by wfcadmin wfcadmin

Why You Should Filter Your Air

Dirty air is a big problem. The World Health Organization estimates that over 6 million people die each year from the combined effects of household air pollution and ambient air pollution. Outdoor air pollution has been an issue for a long time, but people don’t tend to give as much thought to the quality of the air indoors. Indoor air is usually between 2-5 times dirtier than outdoor air, and that number is much higher if you use any sort of solid or liquid fuel to heat your home, like wood or oil. Indoor air is dirty because, for the most part, dust doesn’t have anywhere to go. In recent years, doors have become less drafty and windows have become less leaky. While this is great for electricity bills, all the dust particles that got carried outside by those drafts now remain inside the home. Even with constant washing and vacuuming (and we’re willing to wager that the average American doesn’t vacuum as often as they should), indoor air is still pretty dirty.

It’s counterintuitive, but the smaller the dust particle, the more dangerous it is. Big dust particles get stuck in the nose and throat and eventually get breathed out. Small particles escape these safeguards and end up going into your lungs, where they get absorbed into your blood. That’s bad for you whether the particle was toxic or not, and they sometimes are. What’s worse, a 2016 British study showed that air pollution is ubiquitously bad for everyone. Though unsurprising, that statistic only confirms what people had already suspected: they should be breathing cleaner air. The most effective way to achieve this is with an air filter. Steve’s Heating offers installation of Trane’s CleanEffects™ whole-home air filter. These are much more effective than standalone air filters or purifiers, which only clean the air directly around them. There’s an added bonus in that the Trane filter traps much, much smaller particles than HEPA filters, which are currently the gold standard for filtration. If that’s not enough to convince you, here are some other reasons you should consider purifying your air at home:

Reason 1: you live with a smoker

The first thing you should know about cigarettes and air purifiers is that they do a great job of dealing with the smell of cigarette smoke. The second thing you should know is that air purifiers don’t make cigarette smoke any less dangerous, even though they deal with smoke odor. That’s because the dangerous parts of cigarette smoke are all gaseous pollutants, which air purifiers can’t do anything about—air purifiers can only clean particles from the air, which account for the smell of cigarette smoke. So, keep in mind that air purifiers will make living with a smoker much more pleasant, but they won’t make it healthier. The only way to do that is to make them quit.

Reason 2: You have pets

If you have pets, it’s likely that they are the biggest contributor of dust in your home. Pets not only ensure that your house will be dirtier and require more cleaning, but their dust can also be dangerous to people with asthma, young children, or people with respiratory problems. Even if you don’t have any people in your household who are put in danger by excess dust, it’s still an irritant that can cause a runny nose and scratchy throat.

Reason 3: You have allergies

Excess dust affects people regardless of whether or not they have allergies, but it can be a nightmare for people who do. Dust allergies are most commonly triggered by near-microscopic creatures called dust mites. They are so small that they cannot be seen by the naked eye—just a third of a millimeter—and their waste and dead bodies often float around in the air until they get inhaled or settle into fabric. Many of the people who experience symptoms of allergies in dusty homes are actually allergic to dust mites. Luckily, dust mites are not so small that they can escape Trane’s air purifier, which can pick up particles as small as .3 microns. For scale, that’s .00003 mm.

Reason 4: You just like the idea of breathing healthier air

Maybe you don’t have allergies, a sick baby, or pets. Maybe you just like the idea of breathing cleaner air. And why shouldn’t you? Your home is the one place that is completely yours, so it should be as comfortable and healthy as it can be. Purifying your air will make you feel better and give you the peace of mind you need to be your best self.

By now, you probably know a thing or two about dirty air and why it’s a problem. If you decide you want to take the next step, give Steve’s Heating a call. We’ll even provide a free estimate for installing the filter.

Modern home inside
by wfcadmin wfcadmin

The Value of Annual AC Maintenance

Spring is here, and that means it’s the time of year to arrange for a professional air conditioning maintenance. Routine spring maintenance is one of the biggest favors you can do for your AC—and for yourself and your family! We offer air conditioning maintenance in Northern Kentucky and the surrounding areas. If you call today, you’ll be able to arrange for a convenient time for the inspection and tune-up and be able to face the first hot day of 2019 with no worries. 

Why Annual Maintenance is Important

We can hear that nagging part of your brain telling you that this isn’t necessary. “Every year? That seems extreme. The AC is working fine, what’s the point in putting more money into it?” Please don’t listen to that voice. If you want the AC to pay back your initial investment in it and provide reliable cooling, you must have maintenance done each year. (Spring is the best time for it because it cleans and adjusts the system before you need it the most).

Here are some reasons annual maintenance is vital for an AC:

  • It removes wear, tear, and dirt. As an air conditioner runs, it starts to wear down—just like any machine. It also collects dirt, which gets into all the components and damages this. This accumulation of strain and dirt can mean extra, costly repairs to keep the AC running. Even worse, it can mean an AC that must be replaced years ahead of time. Without maintenance, an air conditioner can expect to last maybe 8 years. With maintenance, those years double!
  • It makes the system dependable. The hottest day of the year comes along, placing a large workload on the air conditioner. Do you want to worry that this extra strain will cause the air conditioner to break down and leave you with a hothouse? The best way to enjoy peace of mind that your air conditioner will fight its way through whatever the coming summer hurls at it is to have the system professionally tuned-up.
  • It keeps the AC from costing too much to run. The energy efficiency of your system is only good if the air conditioner receives annual maintenance. Each year that it misses maintenance, your unit’s efficiency will decline. You might end up paying 25% more for your home cooling annually than you should.

Having spring air conditioning maintenance done isn’t a chore. In fact, Steve’s Heating makes it easier than any other local heating and cooling company. We are pleased to be able to offer you membership in our unique Comfort Club.  Membership ensures that your systems will always be maintained and performing well. Additional benefits include:

  • Semi-annual precision tuneup and system inspection
  • 10% discount on all repairs
  • 24-hour emergency service with no overtime charges
  • Comfort Club membership is also transferable, if you decide to sell your home

Ready to get your AC in-shape for spring? Interested in the perks of our Comfort Club? Get in touch today.

A bright-orange sunset over a snowy, wintry hill
by wfcadmin wfcadmin

3 Quick Tips to Get Your Furnace Ready for Winter

For many people, fall is the best time of the year. The temperature reaches a pleasant cool, allowing you to open your windows and keep both the furnace and air conditioner off for multiple months.

Not only are the fall seasons good for your mental health, but they save a few bucks in your wallet too. Unfortunately, when November rolls around, the days begin to get shorter and the leaves curl up and fall. Winter is here and its time to turn on your furnace again.

It’s likely been over half a year since you’ve last run your furnace. After all that idle time, your furnace needs some attention before it’s ready to run at peak performance.

Here are three ways you can make sure your furnace is ready to fight off the winter cold.

Replace the Filter

Pound for pound, replacing your HVAC system’s air filter is the most efficient thing you could possibly do. In other words, there is nothing else you can do so quickly and cheaply that will have as big an impact as replacing your filter.

Replacing your filter is easy, and it’s probably the one HVAC maintenance task that you should perform without hiring a professional. The filter is almost always on the side of the furnace, and replacing it is a matter of pulling out the old filter and sliding the new one in. But the benefits are huge. You’ll:

  • Lower your energy consumption (by up to 30%)
  • Extend the lifespan of your HVAC system (dirty filters contribute to more HVAC failures than anything else according to Angie’s List)
  • Dramatically improve the cleanliness of the air in your house

Ideally, you should change the filter every month, but changing it every three months should be considered a minimum. And since your furnace will (hopefully) only be running a little bit in the early days of fall, that’s the perfect time to change it to make sure your furnace does a great job of heating your home all winter long.

Make sure the vents are open

Let’s make it clear: all the vents in your house should always be open, without exception.

There’s a running assumption that by closing vents in unused rooms of a house, your furnace won’t heat those rooms, and you’ll end up heating fewer square heat, lowering your heating bill. That assumption is only half right. Closing vents does keep those rooms from being heated, but it actually causes your furnace to use more energy, not less of it. Here’s what closing your vents does:

  • Causes the return vents to pull air into the furnace from the now-cold room, lowering the overall efficiency of the unit
  • Decreases the amount of air flowing through your entire home
  • Increases the likelihood of causing some sort of leak
  • Increases the likelihood of a blown compressor

All in all, closing your vents increases the amount you spend on heating. The same principles apply if your vents are blocked, say by furniture or rugs. So if your vents are closed or blocked, make sure to open them!

Instead of closing your vents, just close the doors of unused rooms. It’ll be better for both your furnace and your wallet.

Schedule Professional Maintenance

Furnaces have gone from around 40% efficient to around 98% efficient over the past century, which marks a significant decrease in the amount of money and energy wasted by artificial heating. But with that increased efficiency comes an increased numbers of electronic and mechanical parts. Furnaces have a lot more parts that can break now, which is the reason furnaces went from lasting 50+ years to 30 years at maximum.

And 30 years is an extremely generous estimate. It’s far more common for furnaces to last between 15-20 years with proper maintenance. Shirk maintenance and you’re looking at lifespans closer to 10 (or fewer!) years.

When you schedule HVAC maintenance, a trained technician will come and perform all the tips and cleanings that you can’t do on your own, like:

  • Cleaning the pilot light and heat exchange
  • Making sure there are no fuel line (or duct) leaks
  • Cleaning and tightening the parts of the furnace that are easily broken
  • and much, much more

Not only will maintenance increase your furnace’s lifespan, but it will also ensure your furnace consistently runs at peak efficiency.

You should schedule HVAC maintenance at least once a year. We also have maintenance plans that will automate the process.

Schedule Furnace Maintenance Today

Planning for maintenance is an important part of any home heating and cooling strategy. Without it, you might unknowingly void your manufacturer’s warranty. If you’re interested in a longer life for your furnace and cheaper heating bills, Contact Steve’s Heating for maintenance today.

AC Unit Summer
by wfcadmin wfcadmin

End-of-Summer HVAC Checklist

Fall is just around the corner. And since it’s America’s most popular season (according to a poll from YouGov), there’s a lot to look forward to. With temperatures in Kentucky averaging a 68º high and 42º low, fall is the perfect season to shut off your air conditioner, open the windows, and relax.

Indeed, fall is the time to give your air conditioner a break and settle into the cool weather before it’s time to reprogram your thermostat and dust off that thermostat. Because of that, the end of summer is also the perfect time to get both your air conditioner and furnace ready for the colder months ahead.

So for your convenience, we put together a handy checklist you can consult when figuring out what to do with your HVAC system at the end of summer.

Central Air Conditioner Checklist

  • Remove and clean the fan
  • Straighten the fins of the outdoor unit
  • Vacuum the fins
  • Spray the fins with a hose
  • Clean the evaporator coils
  • Replace the filter with a HEPA-certified one
  • Cover the top of the condenser unit with a tarp
    • But not the entire thing

The best way to get your air conditioner ready for its long rest ahead is to make sure it’s clean and covered before autumn hits. Most central A/C units are very similar, so you shouldn’t have any trouble taking them apart if it’s your first time. If you’re having trouble removing the fan or finding where the filter is, try a few YouTube searches of your unit’s model number. If that doesn’t work, you’re best off just calling a professional.

To straighten the fins, you can either use a dinner knife or a fin comb. You’re more likely to have a dinner knife lying around, but fin combs do the job much better.

When you cover your outdoor A/C unit, you should never cover it all the way, like you would cover a grill. You should only cover the top. If you cover it all the way, moisture will get trapped inside the unit which will quickly mold and rust. Instead, just cover the top. In fact, a wooden plank a little larger than the unit itself will work fine for this.

While this is an excellent list for getting your air conditioner ready for it’s long rest and subsequent revival, there are still a lot of things that only a professional should do, such as checking the coolant levels or diagnosing oil leaks.

Furnace Checklist

  • Make sure the condensation drain isn’t clogged
  • Make sure the exhaust outlets aren’t clogged
  • Check for leaks in your ductwork and seal with them metal tape
  • Clean your vents and air registers
  • Switch your damper if you have one
  • Oil your blower
  • Replace the filter

A furnace’s filter is usually located around the base of the unit itself. If you’re having trouble finding it, consult your owners manual (a copy is usually on the manufacturer’s website if you don’t have it handy). Most of these steps can be accomplished without any special knowhow. Many furnaces have a sliding panel at the front that opens up, but yours might not. Again, owner’s manuals and Google are your friend here.

Dampers are switches that switch the flow of air between the air conditioner and furnace. If you don’t have a separate set of ducts for your air conditioner and furnace, you almost definitely have dampers. The location of your dampers depends, but they usually look like a round knob on the side of one of your ducts.

The inside of a furnace is an especially fragile place. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s easy to break an essential part of your furnace: the igniter. Some furnaces have a pilot light, a small flame that burns all year long, and others have an ignition key, a piece of metal that heats up to ignite the flame. The ignition key is fragile, and it’s easy to damage if you aren’t careful. If you break your ignition key, not only will your furnace not produce any heat, but it could fill your home with explosive natural gas. If you’re at all worried about this, it’s best to call in for maintenance.

Other Things to Do

  • Dust your fans
  • Switch your thermostat programming
  • Test your thermostat
  • Schedule maintenance

Once you shut off your central A/C unit for the season, it’s time to run your ceiling fans! Ceiling fans help to circulate air and help the room feel more comfortable. But if you haven’t used yours in awhile, they’re probably covered in dust. Grab a ladder and some wipes and dust it clean.

You should also pay attention to your thermostat. Switch your thermostat from cooling to heating mode, and make sure you test it. An easy way to do that is by turning the thermostat to a few degrees hotter than it currently reads. So if your house is currently 70ºs, you should crank the thermostat up to 72º and wait a few minutes. If all is well, you should hear the furnace turn on and begin heating the home. If you don’t hear anything, you should get your equipment looked at.

Call Steve’s Heating and Cooling for Thorough Maintenance All Year Long

When it comes to keeping your HVAC system running smoothly, there is a lot you can do to keep your home comfortable and your energy bills low. But there are many things, like cleaning your heating coils, that only a professional should do. Without an expert’s expertise, you’re liable to ruin your system—a costly mistake.

So if you’re serious about taking care of your HVAC system, schedule a visit from Steve’s Heating. Our team has years of HVAC experience and will get your maintenance done in half the time it’d take you to do yourself. Plus, our Comfort Club members get 10% off any repairs that are needed.